Algeria calls for referendum on Western Sahara dispute

Algeria has rejected the Moroccan Autonomy Plan as a resolution to the ongoing Western Sahara dispute, according to a report from the Moroccan-friendly outlet Atalayar and agencies on October 30th.

Ahead of a UN Security Council meeting to vote on the proposed resolution on October 31st, Algeria has called for an independence referendum for the Sahrawi people, whose ancestral homeland is the disputed territory. However, analysts believe this would be difficult to conduct due to the fact that some Sahrawi people reside in the Western Sahara, while others live in refugee camps in Morocco, resulting in an unclear electoral roll.

The Autonomy Plan, which would grant the Western Sahara limited self-governance under Moroccan sovereignty, is widely viewed as the most credible solution to the conflict.

Morocco currently controls much of the region and proposes autonomy within the Kingdom.

Algeria backs the Polisario Front, a militant group that claims to fight for the self-determination of the Sahrawi people. The group is fighting what it calls the “Moroccan occupier” in hopes of achieving an independent Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).

The Polisario Front has reaffirmed that it would not participate in negotiations which legitimise what it views as Morocco’s illegal military occupation of the Western Sahara.

The group, which is backed by Iran, was established in 1973 with the aim of ousting the Spanish colonial forces through armed struggle. Spanish colonial rule ended in 1975 when Spain allowed the territory to be partitioned between Morocco and Mauritania; the latter relinquished its territorial claims after the Polisario Front waged war with the two countries in 1979.

Algerian media has accused the UAE and France of exerting “intense pressure” in the UN Security Council. France, the former colonising power over Algeria, recognised Moroccan sovereignty on April 16th. While the UAE was accused of “using its wealth to buy political influence at the expense of an entire people,” along with both nations using “intensive bilateral meetings.”

Despite widespread support for the Autonomy Plan, there have been calls for a referendum on self-determination, most notably from former US National Security Advisor John Bolton, who has said: “It is surprising that Morocco has been stalling for 25 years on organising a self-determination referendum, at a time when it would have been easy to conduct.”

Bolton accused the UN of demonstrating “true weakness” over its support for the Autonomy Plan; he dismissed claims that the Polisario Front is linked to terrorist groups as “slander and propaganda.”

His position is at odds with that of the current US government, which recognises Moroccan sovereignty over the territory and has been urged by Morocco to designate the Polisario Front as a terrorist organisation.

Morocco has been accused of systematically displacing the Sahrawi people in the Western Sahara in an attempt to gain sovereignty over the region, through the destruction of homes and land confiscation.

Atalayar and agencies, Maghrebi.org